a step, that could not be taken with the least hope of ever obtaining pardon from or reconciliation with any of my friends;
puhekieltä An order that releases a convicted criminal without further punishment, prevents future punishment, or (in some jurisdictions) removes an offence from a person's criminal record, as if it had never been committed.
1974: President Gerald Ford, Proclamation 4311
I... have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States ...
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
1815: (w), (w)
I hope you will not find he has outstepped the truth more than may be pardoned, in consideration of the motive.
(quote-book)
puhekieltä To refrain from exacting as a penalty.
Shakespeare
I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.
puhekieltä To grant an official pardon for a crime; unguilt.
1900, (w), (w), Chapter I,
The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.
(non-gloss definition)
Pardon?, What did you say?, Can you say that again?